


Next Time

by mopotter167



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Gen, I don't know what I'm doing, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Langst, Platonic Lance and Keith, Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, This takes place somewhere towards the end of s5, but you can read it as Klance if you like, fading relationships, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 11:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14933687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mopotter167/pseuds/mopotter167
Summary: It was strange, to see someone you used to know so well, stand before you and not know the first thing about them or how they got to where they are right now.What had changed?What had Keith missed?It, undoubtedly, was the sum of many little things he’d not been there for – the leadership roles Lance had no doubt had the chance – and probably often naught, no choice – to take up with Shiro out of commission.Maybe it was something he’d learned by watching Shiro more closely after Keith had gotten out of the way.Maybe this was just who he always had been but Keith had always been too easily aggravated with Lance’s annoying nuances to really notice.He exhaled deeply.He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.





	Next Time

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo this is my first completed fanfic EVER. Like I have been writing fan fiction since the age of dawn but have never actually completed one let alone posted it, so I am kind of over-the-moon excited (and nervous) that I finished this :D
> 
> I don’t know why this concept really got stuck in my head just from the couple of scenes between the Blade and Voltron in S5 but it did! So I challenged myself to write this before the new season starts tomorrow and this probably won’t be plausible canon anymore lol
> 
>  _________
> 
> Things you might want to know before you read:  
> – This takes place around the end of S5  
> – All of these instances are written as two way calls between the Blade and Voltron unless otherwise noted that Keith and Lance are in the same place together  
> – #sorrynotsorry Shiro is my punching bag for this fic for no reason other than it was convenient to the plot...poor Shiro  
> – ㊌ marks Lance's parts and ㊋ marks Keith's  
> — there is a small bit of graphic description at the end that I don't think is too bad but rated this Teen just in case  
> — this is written as a platonic fic between all characters but you can read it however you like ;) ;)  
>  
> 
> And on a final note: I know there's a lot of opinions about who would be able to pilot what lions, but I am under the belief that people can change and therefore the Lions can totally have new Paladins depending on how characters have developed, etc. so just keep an open mind! ;)

 

**㊋ | Keith had been up nearly 38 hours but that was nothing to him now.**

Life in the Blade of Marmora was strict and merciless but in every regard, was shaping him up to his true potential. He felt stronger and more capable than he ever had before and this time it wasn’t all about the teamwork.

And Keith told himself that he had never really been good at working with others anyways.

Not really.

The Blade life suited him as perfectly as his new gear did and it felt good to play to his strengths and not have to hold back for others. His instinct guided him well here and when he had his assignments he excelled at them.

That's not to say he didn’t get into trouble from deviating from time to time, but all in all, life with the Marmora was not a bad one.

It just seemed a little...lacking sometimes.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | Lance was tired.**

The days spent as Defenders of the Universe were getting longer and more stressful. Even more than he’d ever thought possible.

Probably because Shiro was missing _again_. Another long story he didn’t have the energy nor the desire to recollect.

Lance was so used to digging deep into his strength reserves on a daily basis that he permanently carried around a bone-weary tiredness with him wherever he went.  

And he knew he wasn’t the only one.

Hunk became quiet and even more fidgety than usual without the time to cook and bake as a stress reliever. He slept a lot. (When he could).

Even Pidge could be found sleeping regularly now and that was something none of them had ever thought they’d see.

To be honest, Lance didn’t even feel as if he had the energy to laugh or crack a joke these days, let alone the energy to discuss tactics and strategize about plans more than an hour into the future (in which he only wanted to see a very long nap).

When the alert for a call with The Blade of Marmora came in, Lance sucked in a deep breath and wandered into the command center. He gave a tired half smile/half wave to The Blade as the feed crackled to life on the ship’s monitor and then promptly dropped down onto the sofa next to an already-asleep Pidge, praying that Allura would be able to take the handle on this meeting.

He was so tired…

Keith’s haughty voice arguing over the call was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Shiro still hadn’t been found and Voltron was officially down a Black Paladin again.**

Lance was irrational as usual and somehow under the impression that all of this was Keith’s fault – that they hadn’t been able to form Voltron, and that he needed to come back ASAP to help defend the universe again for good.

He’d been missing from Voltron for too long and they needed him.

Half-assing it wasn’t enough now.

But The Blade was helping Keith. He was better, stronger, he felt like this was where he truly excelled…

Plus he had the resources to better track down Shiro here and that was top priority for Keith.

Really, he was actually better off helping Voltron this way – by finding Shiro and thus eliminating the need for him to return.

Because it had already been proven that Keith being a part of Voltron without Shiro was nothing but an absolute disaster.

He didn’t like letting his friends down but this was the best way, he decided.

Definitely.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | Lance tried not to let his anger and his betrayal show, he really did.**

But it had been over a year since Voltron had lost its permanent red paladin and he ended up yelling at Keith.

Again.

“We don’t even care about replacing _you_ anymore, we just need _someone_!”

The words were out of Lance’s mouth before he could really even think of what he was saying.

He had tried to stop himself, but his brain was in turmoil and amidst the thoughts of: _“Don’t yell at Keith, don't pick a fight with Keith; it’s not really his fault…he left because he wanted to. You can’t force him to come back…”_ , were the equally persistent thoughts of:

_Why won’t he just come back?_

_Does he think he’s better than us?_

_Does he not care about saving anyone anymore?_

_Does he not care about Voltron?_

_Does he not care about us?_

_About me?_

Lance was fighting hard for his friend and his teammate and he was losing.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Keith was tempted.**

Returning to Voltron where he knew what to expect, and where he knew the people he worked with, was a comforting thought. It was made more and more tempting by the day as his Marmora work reached a infinite intensity that he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with.

His temptation had peaked after they had brought Shiro back and Kolivan refused to let Keith go see him as often as he wanted to.

Because although they’d found Shiro, Shiro still wasn’t any better after weeks in the healing pods.

But that wasn't even the closest Keith had come to returning.

That had been when Lance had been injured as a result of the Black Lion being improperly piloted by Lotor.

 _Lotor_ , who, of all people, had somehow wormed his way into being a paladin without a hint of resistance.

Keith didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him, which, albeit, probably wasn’t too far.

When Keith had seen the Galra Prince aiming at Galra ships through Lance’s retreat path he’d tried to radio in and warn him – that was Lance’s move and always had been.

Of course Lotor didn’t know that, but Keith didn’t trust him regardless. He’d been so angry and beside himself that he’d pinned Lotor up against the nearest wall with unforgiving force as soon as they landed back at the Castle of Lions, yelling incomprehensibly as Allura and Coran rushed to pull them apart.

Breathing heavily, vision clouded with anger, Keith stared Lotor down as they hauled Lance off to the healing pods.

There was blood all over his face.

He looked bad.

And it was all because of one stupid mistake from someone he couldn’t possibly comprehend that anyone would trust – especially now.

One word and he could be back for good.

That’s all it would take.

But Allura looked murderous.

Hunk and Pidge were with Lance.

Shiro was still injured.

He didn’t have anyone here.

So he left.

 

* * *

 

 **㊋ | Keith managed to squeeze in the question at the very end of the call – he couldn’t just ignore the** **elephant in the room.**

“How’s Lance?” He tried to keep the accusation out of his voice. Somewhat.

There was an nonreassuring pause. “Lance suffered some severe head contusions on the last mission. Just wrong place, wrong time.” Allura reported dutifully.

Keith knew this was a perfectly bullshit answer to cover for Lotor but swallowed it all the same with Kolivan hovering over him. “Is he okay?”

A large orange mustache entered the screen: “It was bad this time but we’re confident Number Three will make a full recovery!”

Chipper as always, Coran.

They ended the call before Keith could say anything else.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | Keith was sitting against the wall of the infirmary when Lance woke up.**

It was very early morning and nobody else was around.

Lance still felt exhausted, but he didn’t necessarily feel weak anymore and his head seemed o-kay.

Better than it had been after the crash anyways.

He ambled over to Keith's purple glow bright in the low light of dawn and sat down in the seat adjacent.

He looked up at the closest pod.

Shiro looked like a zombie, glowing in the purple and blue light.

Keith didn't even turn, but kept staring straight ahead.

“You should go back to your own bed, Lance. You look terrible.”

Lance scoffed, which turned into a cough as he realized how dry his throat was. “Don’t tell me what to do, Mullet.”

The silence – long but not uncomfortable – stretched on and Lance drifted off, snapping awake when lights flickered on, illuminating the room in all its bright fluorescent glory.

Keith was gone and Lance was alone with a silent-as-ever Shiro.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | With so many Marmora missions, it’s a long time before Keith sees anyone from Voltron again.**

Surprise, surprise, Lotor has left the team to pursue his inheritance after all.

Slippery bastard.

And Voltron is down a Paladin once again.

“We can’t just sit around playing 'Musical Lions' forever!” Lance exclaims. “It’s throwing me off!”

 _Musical Lions._ Keith refrains from laughing.

Pidge’s voice interrupts his thoughts.

“Please, Keith? We need you.”

It was harder than anything to have to say no to the girl he sees as his little sister but he stays resolute.

He was so close to finding a better healer for Shiro.

Voltron wouldn’t give him the time and freedom he needed to do that.

Besides, after all this time, things would be different, he told himself.

Too different.

He can almost hear the shattering of hearts as he declines and he knows with certainty that this is the last time they’ll ask him.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | The next time Keith sees the Voltron paladins, Lance is wearing the black armor.**

He tries not to let his shock show.

“You’re not the only one who could lead this team, Mullet.”

Keith can’t help but smirk.

Just like old times.

Almost.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | The time had come and they were officially replacing Keith.**

Two years after they'd first come to Voltron and the empire was finally in a time of delicate but definite peace. It was with a facade of optimism that team Voltron began trials for the new pilot of the Red or the Black Lion.

But no one’s hearts were really in it and after the Lotor Fiasco nobody really had much faith that this new Paladin would even stay, let alone be qualified to pilot Red or Black.

Lance watched bitterly as the latest recruit re-emerged from Red looking disappointed and shaking his head. _Good,_ Lance thought stubbornly. Red had always belonged to Keith anyways.

Then he sighed.

But Keith wasn’t coming back.

Lance needed to accept that.

Last time they had been in such a rush to find a new paladin that they’d been ecstatic to find someone on such short notice – even if that someone was Lotor and he had tried to blast Lance’s head off on their very first mission as a team. But now…

Now it was a very long and painful process which Lance could only feel hurt and resentment towards as he deemed every new pilot unworthy and incomparable to the original Red Paladin.

He supposed he should be thankful for their current time of peace within the empire that allowed them to take such slow and careful review of all of the potential paladins, but having been given so much time, all Lance wanted to do was to wait for Keith to come back again and for Shiro to wake up and for everything to be back to how it used to be.

It was heartbreak he still hadn’t really been able to accept.

What did they call that? Denial? Yeah, that sounded about right.

He rubbed his face tiredly.

Being the leader was hard work.

 

* * *

 

 **㊌ | So maybe being Defenders of the Universe had still been hard before, but at least sometimes it** **had been fun too.**

Apart from cooking with Hunk and games with Pidge and Matt, there wasn’t much of that around here anymore.

Hunk, Pidge and Matt seemed to become closer than ever, leaving the new paladin to him, and him alone.

Normally this would have excited Lance beyond anything else, but this time it only left him feeling lonely.

Maybe it was the fact that she was still practically a stranger.

Who was he kidding, that had never stopped him before. And besides, he supposed Varya wasn’t really a stranger anymore...but she was just kind of...there.

And although Lance could certainly appreciate someone as good-looking as her just existing, it wasn’t the same as being able to connect with someone. To be their friend. A real teammate.

Besides, she was married. Or whatever the alien equivalent to that was.

He didn’t really know what was wrong with him.

So he trained alone a lot.

Sometimes he would go talk to Shiro in the infirmary. Or talk _at_ him, more accurately.

_What are the best qualities a leader needs to have? I mean obviously you have the whole package, but what do I have?_

_How do I get everyone to trust me?_

_What if the Black Lion made the wrong choice?_

_What am I doing wrong?_

Because it was surely his fault they still couldn’t form Voltron.

His only saving grace was the peace period they were in that allowed him time to make these mistakes.

To learn how to be a leader.

To change.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Lance looked a lot taller and a lot stronger.**

He talked less than Keith had ever remembered hearing and he held himself in a way that exuded confidence and demanded respect...something that, before now, Keith had only ever seen in Shiro and Kolivan.

Lance seemed to have taken the responsibility of the Black Paladin to a level of seriousness Keith hadn’t even thought possible.

It was strange, to see someone you used to know so well, stand before you and not know the first thing about them or how they got to where they are right now.

What had changed?

What had Keith missed?

It, undoubtedly, was the sum of many little things he’d not been there for – the leadership roles Lance had no doubt had the chance – and probably often naught, no choice – to take up with Shiro out of commission.

Maybe it was something he’d learned by watching Shiro more closely after Keith had gotten out of the way.

Maybe this was just who he always had been but Keith had always been too easily aggravated with Lance’s annoying nuances to really notice.

He exhaled deeply.

“So...how’s the new girl doing?”

It's just the two of them and Keith feels awkward asking but also feels obligated to make small talk at this point.

God, since when had they gotten to the point of _small talk?_

Lance doesn’t smile. “She’s cool. She’s good. I mean...she’s not you. Or Shiro.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. He’d been expecting some comment on her looks or attractiveness or at the very least the detailed story of how Lance was going to make the girl fall in love with him.

Things really had changed.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | When Shiro woke up Lance was so happy he could have cried.**

Maybe he did a little.

He couldn't help it – he felt like the largest weight in the world had been lifted off his chest.

He had been doing fine – leading well even, but the stress was eating him alive.

He was hanging on by mere threads of supposed sanity and his deep-rooted desire to have everyone respect him was the only thing that kept him from abandoning everything altogether.

As much as he’d said he had wanted it in the beginning, he didn’t want it anymore.

Who was he kidding? He wasn’t ready for this. Shiro was though.

Shiro would always be the best leader Voltron could ever ask for.

But the Black Lion would not let Shiro pilot her anymore.

And Lance felt hopelessness overtake him.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Keith saw how much it broke them all.**

He knew they must have all been counting on the day that Shiro would wake up and return to them. Just as he had been waiting.

But Shiro continuing to be a paladin had honestly been of little consequence to Keith. He was just glad that his best friend was alive.

Hunk, Pidge and Lance on the other hand...

They had been waiting on Shiro for reasons other than friendship – things like leadership, security and hope.

Lance’s face in particular had looked something akin to complete and utter heartbreak.

Keith was worried about his friends.

But at least Shiro was okay.

And that was good enough for him.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | Lance just wanted to go home.**

For real – for good this time.

Everyone kept telling him that he was doing great and that he was supportive and he listened and that he really was doing a good job leading Voltron, but…

Their recent track record was a testament to the immense amount of failure he’d achieved as the Black Paladin and it weighed him down more and more with every passing day.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Out of the quiet came a storm like none they’d ever seen before.**

It was like Galra had spawned from the stars themselves and Zarkon had planned his rebuttal with an unwavering fury.

It was all hands on-deck after two already-sleepless nights.

People were tired and they were irritated.

Tempers were high and morale low.

Keith had already been in the castle strategizing with Shiro while the paladins attempted to salvage any spare minute of sleep they could, when, a half hour after after they’d laid down, the alarms blared and Allura’s voice echoed through the ship.

They were being attacked out of nowhere.

Everyone ran to their assigned stations.

Keith and Shiro rode with Pidge to sneak on to Zarkon’s ship and meet up with The Blade by using the green lion’s cloaking ability. Dismantle everything from the inside and take over the ship.

Hunk would provide the diversion and back up as well as protection should the need arise while everyone boarded the ship.

Lance in the Black lion alongside Varya in Red took on the duty of attacking anything and everything they could as soon as the ships targeted Hunk.

Allura waited patiently on stand-by for the battle to begin – manning the ship's defenses were more important right now than piloting Blue but she would be ready to form Voltron when it came to that.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | “There’s too many of them, we need to pull back!”**

Lance whipped around in Black and got a higher viewpoint, making sure that he could see everyone spread out below him and that they were adhering to the retreat.

“Hey! I need extraction _now_!”

 _Shit_.

Lance turned Black into a nosedive, dodging in and out of the lasers streaking across space like fireworks and pulled up alongside a small ship that marked Keith’s location.

No sooner had he pulled up, Keith had hopped aboard and rushed up to Lance at the helm. Lance was getting the hell out of there long before Keith had even started yelling at him to leave.

They were seconds away from hitting the wormhole when Lance caught the flash of Red out of the corner of his eye. He pulled back and wheeled around. His tracker had said the Red lion had already made it through but it was obviously faulty. Varya was still attacking relentlessly, with seemingly no idea that the rest of Voltron had left the fight.

“Varya!” He yelled over the comm, “We need to go – we’re leaving!”

She continued to attack. She hadn’t heard him. Panic started to settle in.

The wormhole wouldn't be open for much longer.

A loud crackling sound and a pop announced the arrival of reception on the other end of the comms and Varya seemed to finally get the message. ”I hit my helmet – comms has been zapping in and out – I’m coming –”

Red turned with the impressive reaction speed she was known for and shot towards the wormhole at the worst moment possible.

The beam of an ion cannon shot out from behind them. _No..._

Lance’s chest seized. He become oddly aware of his heart beating loudly and painfully against his chest, a soft tingling worked its way down into his palms and his mouth went dry.

Keith lurched forward to take the controls.

There was nothing he could do.

The beam hit Red dead on and the explosion rocked everything within a five mile radius.

They went down.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | “Lance! Keith! Are you with Varya? Our tracking systems are failing  – what is your location?”**

Explosions.

Yells.

Pidge: “We need you up here we've got no cover!”

Shiro: “Keith, they’ve followed us in. We’re in deep trouble –”

Hunk: “Where’s Varya? This isn’t good–”

Keith dug his way out of the wreckage, clenching his bruised and bleeding arm and trying to make sense of the radio chatter.

The planet outside was covered in dust and rocks and strips of metal and debris from the crash. Keith could smell smoke. The glass of his helmet had smashed and cracked. Thank God this planet had oxygen otherwise he'd be long-dead.

He climbed the mass of rocks jutting out front of him and scoured the area.

Red was some fifty feet away, plowed into an outcropping of boulders, blasted to living hell. An enormous dent marred the side of her face and a gaping hole halfway up her neck smoldered quietly.

It did something inside of him to see Red so brutally damaged.

He picked his way over to Lance who was already standing in front of the destruction.

As he got closer and called Lance’s name he realized something was wrong. He wasn’t answering.

Keith held his breath and walked cautiously up to Lance, who was ramrod still.

Varya was splayed out in front of Red on a bed of rocks and metal, body bent at impossible angles. There was a lot of blood.

She wasn’t moving.

She was indisputably dead.

Lance tore off his helmet and fell to his knees, vomiting helplessly in the dirt.

Keith couldn’t move.

This was not something they had planned for.

How could they have?

Of course it had always been a risk, being a paladin. One they’d thankfully never had to address.

Until now.

His hand shook as he reached up to transmit the radio call.

“V-Varya’s dead.” He kept his hand there, transmitting, but couldn’t think of anything else to say.

He ended the transmission.

Below him, Lance sobbed.

Keith knelt down. “Lance…”

“I – I heard her radio cut out – I –” He was staring mindlessly at Varya’s body, shaking all over. “ _I_ told her when to go. _I did._  It’s my fault…”

“Lance. _Lance_ – listen to me! It’s not your fault. It’s not. But we have to go now, everyone needs us –”

Lance shook his head, tear tracks glistening bright against the dirt and the blood that had caked onto his face in the crash. “I can’t...”

Lance looked like he had lost the will to do anything, let alone lead the fight for the universe.

Keith took in a deep, steadying breath and ran back towards the Black Lion.

 

* * *

 

 **㊌ |** **_Varya was dead. She was dead. She was dead and it was all Lance’s fault._ **

He didn’t believe he was in shock but his body refused to acknowledge this and continued to function like a faulty television – white noise everywhere and flickering glimpses of what lay in front of him.

His brain picked out seemingly insignificant details –  the crack in her helmet just above her green green eyes, the dust that swirled around her feet, the blood-stained wedding ring strung along a gold chain hanging from her broken neck...

 _He_ was going to have to tell her husband it was his fault.

_All his fault._

He threw up again, no longer able to control his body.

And no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t stop staring.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Keith’s mind buzzed.**

The turn of events had been so sudden – so unexpected that it left him with nothing but his instincts to guide him as to what he was going to do next.

He ran back over to Lance, who was still staring at Varya, crumpled in on himself.

Keith knelt down so that Lance could hear him. He needed to reach Lance somehow because this battle was not stopping around them. It was getting more and more intense and every wasted second was becoming vital to the outcome.

“The Black Lion won’t let me in, Lance. It has to be you.”

He spoke gently – now was not the time to start a fight.

_Patience yields focus._

“I’m going to pilot Red and you need to get back in the Black Lion, okay?”

Lance looked up. “Keith…”

“Hey – we make a great team, remember?” Keith held out his hand.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | As it turned out, Lotor wasn’t actually completely useless.**

It was hard to admit, but the victory Voltron and The Blade of Marmora and all of the free people of the universe achieved that day was largely thanks to the army of diverted Galra lead by the ex-Prince.

But Lance too had made his mark, and, flying alongside Keith, had reformed Voltron and pulled off some of the most effective attacks against the Galra that the empire had seen in tens of thousands of years.

Red had been in bad shape after Varya’s initial crash and after the battle was completely over, she had barely been functioning. It had taken Pidge and Hunk a long time to bring her back to her original state of glory.

But with the endless resources now available to them courtesy of countless newly-saved civilizations, they got the job done and she was as good as new.

 

* * *

 

 **㊌ | Voltron had had a wake for Varya and it ended up becoming nothing short of the universe’s largest** **event to-date.  
**

Next thing they knew people from all over the universe had come to pay their respects to the brave Red Paladin who had defended them until the very end.

There were lots of tears and a formal ceremony, but after that there was food and drink and celebrating late into the night, for the universe had had nothing to celebrate for the last ten thousand years and it was about time they did.

 

* * *

 

**㊋ | Keith was staying.**

He couldn’t say why, but after that final battle, a lot of things had slid into sharp focus for him.

The high-stakes, intel-intensive work of The Blade no longer held quite the appeal for him as it had before.

For as many months as he had been away from Voltron and had felt like he truly belonged with the Marmora, he now felt like he had returned home after a very long time and he had no intention of leaving again.

So he would stay as Pilot of the Red Lion and Lance’s “right-hand man” as Lance liked to put it.

Things weren’t perfect – there was still a somewhat palpable sense of loss within the castle and Shiro for one was still trying to find his place within Voltron, but they were getting there.

Lance, who, despite his previous shortcomings had impressed all of them with his ability to lead, was often seen conversing with Shiro on battle tips or leadership pointers. He seemed to have had the worst of it but he was holding up and everyone held such respect for him now that his leadership was unquestionable.

And Keith was happy to be back.

He missed training with Shiro and not understanding anything Pige or Matt said and taunting Lance – oh and he definitely missed Hunk’s cooking.

 

* * *

 

**㊌ | Things weren’t back to normal yet, but they were getting there.**

Lance alone had taken on the responsibility of turning Varya’s belongings over to her next of kin and explaining what had happened.

That was one thing he never wanted to remember as long as he lived.

But when he returned to the castle he found everyone waiting for him.  

And he couldn’t help but feel warm inside.

He’d never been more thankful for Hunk, who held him as he cried and for Pidge who clung to his waist just like his little sister always did and for his role model Shiro and beautiful Allura and crazy Coran – and even Keith was smiling and trying to make Lance feel better with his terrible sense of humor.

Lance needed that group hug more than anything he’d ever needed in his entire life.

So things would be different – too much had happened for them not to, but at least he could be thankful he had his family by his side.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super nervous about posting this but if you enjoyed it I'd love to hear your thoughts!! :)
> 
> ALsO: SEASON 6 GUYS. HOLY CRAP :D :D :D Did anyone else think it was just pure amazingness??


End file.
